Hotel Matilda Tortilla Soup

At trendy Hotel Matilda (www.hotelmatilda.com) in San Miguel de Allende,  Executive Chef Jorge Bonetahas a best-selling dish on the menu that’s a year-round favorite at the hotel – Hotel Matilda Tortilla Soup.

For Chef Boneta, his Tortilla Soup is an expression of his culinary persona – his lifelong passion for cooking shaped early on by an intimate family life that centered around the kitchen and good food, extensive travel in Mexico to hone his knowledge of the varied and unique cuisines of the different regions of the country, and professional experience at several of Mexico’s leading resorts.

Translation:  his Hotel Matilda Tortilla Soup is the way Mexican foodies prepare Tortilla Soup at home!

Ingredients (serves 6):

33 oz. chicken stock

6  medium tomatoes, chopped

1  medium white onion, chopped

8 oz. of corn tortilla chips

1 garlic clove

2 tbsp. tomato paste

3 tbs. vegetable oil (canola or corn)

1 tbs. chicken stock powder

Traditional garnish:

Avocado, cubed

Corn tortillas, fried and julienned

Crème Fraiche

Pasilla chili, fried

In a pot, add the oil and cook the onion and garlic on low heat for 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook about 7 minutes on medium heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil, then reduce to low temperature and cook for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the soup cool down.  Put the soup in a blender and blend it very well. Reheat the soup and add the traditional garnish.

Suggested pairing with Mexican terroir wines, by Hotel Matilda Sommelier Sebastián Acosta:

White: Natal (Chardonnay), Quinta Monasterio 2010, Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico

Rosé: V (cabernet Sauvigon), Casa Madero 2011, Valle de Coahuila, México

Red: Equua (70% Grenache, 30% Petite Syrah), Viñedos Malangón 2010, Valle de Guadalupe, México

Hotel Matilda is a cutting-edge boutique hotel offering a lifestyle-focused guest experience combining an award-winning holistic spa, innovative international dining, a popular lounge known for its creative mixology, and vibrant, art gallery-like ambiance filled with dramatic contemporary art. Hotel Matilda opened in September 2010 in the center of San Miguel de Allende, the crown jewel of colonial Mexico andan UNESCO World Heritage Site celebrated for its intact 500-year-old Spanish architecture.  For more information and reservations:  toll free 855-MATILDA (855-628-4532) or info@hotelmatilda.com.

The photo: The blended soup is being poured into a bowl containing the traditional garnish ingredients, including the julienned tortilla strips tied in a bunch;  in the spoon is pasilla chili, and in the small cup are optional pork rinds.